Rock County's unemployment rate up in February

MADISON—The unemployment rate in the Janesville metro area increased in February, the Department of Workforce Development reported Wednesday.

Statewide, unemployment rates rose in all 12 metro areas.

The department said the February rate for Rock County—also known as the Janesville Metropolitan Statistical Area—was 8.1 percent, higher than 8.0 percent reported in January but below the 9.4 percent tallied in February 2013.

Overall, the state unemployment rate in February was 7 percent, up from the rate posted in January and down from the 7.9 percent posted in February 2013, the department reported.

Of the 32 Wisconsin cities with at least 25,000 people, unemployment rates increased in all but two.

Among counties, Rock County had the 29th-highest rate, while Dane County had the lowest at 4.6 percent.

Walworth County had a February unemployment rate of 7.5 percent, while Green and Jefferson counties had rates of 6.6 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively. January-February rates increased in all but three of Wisconsin's counties.

Among individual cities, Janesville's rate of 8.5 percent in February was the ninth-highest in the state.

With a February unemployment rate of 10.6 percent, Beloit had the second-highest rate among Wisconsin cities. It trailed only Racine and its February unemployment rate of 11.5 percent.